Labor department: More than 46,000 Coloradans filed for unemployment last week, 6.6M nationally

DENVER — More than 46,000 state residents filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending April 4, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said, as the COVID-19 virus continues to put people out of work and threaten businesses.

The exact figure of claims was 46,065 for the period, according to weekly figures released Thursday morning. That adds to the more than 127,000 who filed in the three weeks prior. The state paid $29.8 million in benefits last week, compared with the average of $8.7 million in the months before March.

The number filing in the past week is a 33% decrease from the 61,583 who filed in the week prior, suggesting that while the number of newly out of work state residents is still increasing dramatically, the rate of businesses temporarily laying off staff or closing altogether may be slowing.

Colorado’s stay-at-home order implemented to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus was originally due to end on Saturday, but in an address to the state this week, Gov. Jared Polis extended that to April 26, citing positive data in slowing infection rates.

Also this morning, the U.S. Department of Labor said initial claims across the country were 6.06 million in the same period, a decrease of 261,000 new filings from the week prior but still a massive figure. Approximately 16.6 million Americans have made claims for unemployment benefits in the past four weeks.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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